Boulder green building store on the block

Owner Steve Savage, who has recently launched a distribution company called National Eco Wholesale, told the newspaper that he no longer has the time to devote to the retail end of the green products business.

Ellie's Eco Home Store opened in 2008 as part of the spinoff of the building supplies division of Eco-Products Inc., a longtime Boulder firm that included eco-friendly food service products. The building supplies were accompanied by thousands of other general merchandise, home and office supplies. Last year, Savage repositioned Ellie's by liquidating most of the general merchandise items and shifting the focus back to more green building products.

Savage said he has had a couple conversations with potential buyers, and mentioned both the competition and the consolidation in the green products retail industry. Last month, New York-based Green Depot acquired Ecohaus, the largest West Coast dealer of green building materials, with locations in Seattle and Portland.